Crime & Drugs

Crime & Drugs

With killings on the rise in Chicago, police are putting their hands up

With killings on the rise in Chicago, police are putting their hands up

Chicago is seeing a spike in crime, particularly gun violence, that has alarmed the entire city. Currently pushing over 1,500 shootings to date this year, the month of June has shown no signs of slowing down. The surge in violence could not have come at a more complicated time for the city, with a police department in turmoil — following the release of the Laquan McDonald video — and a subsequent task force report which accused the department of an entrenched culture of racism and abuse.

VICE News speaks with an active-duty CPD officer, Superintendent Eddie Johnson, and a mother on Chicago's South Side who lost both her son and husband to gun violence, to better understand the dynamics at play amid the bloodshed.